Wax melter plans

Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum

Help Support Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Not sure what you have in mind, this yootoob video shows a homemade steam generated melter being 'built' and worked - ingenious.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j53cGXJ0ttY

I've made one of them or like it out of a steam paint striper, I had to last season as I had to melt down frames of osr because it had set like concrete..
What I wanting to make is a solar wax melter I've numerous brood frames and super frames to melt.
I've got wood to make a frame and glass, I was going to use the wheels and axle from a sack truck to move it around.
Apologies I should of been more in formative about what I wanted to do.
 
Last edited:
Polyhive had some videos at one stage, of his design in use.

Here is his original with dimensions:

attachment.php


And my interpretation of it:

attachment.php


This type is great for final cleaning of wax before use.

A solar or steam driven one is best for stripping frames and so on...

Sorry - posts crossed.
 

Attachments

  • Wax cleaner.jpg
    Wax cleaner.jpg
    275.7 KB · Views: 232
  • melter.jpg
    melter.jpg
    107.2 KB · Views: 234
Last edited:
Polyhive had some videos at one stage, of his design in use.

Here is his original with dimensions:

attachment.php


And my interpretation of it:

attachment.php


This type is great for final cleaning of wax before use.

A solar or steam driven one is best for stripping frames and so on...

Sorry - posts crossed.

I remember those melters back in the 1980's, commercially built and they had a woollen filter on top.
 
I use muslin. The difference between Polyhives and mine was the heating - I pu an electric element in mine, he uses a propane stove underneath.
 
I use muslin. The difference between Polyhives and mine was the heating - I pu an electric element in mine, he uses a propane stove underneath.

I made one when I was a teenager going into my 20's with an old electric kettle with the 3 round pins instead of the modern 3 blades. A car hosepipe (water) and an enamel funnel. The lid had a piece cut out of it and the filter was old flannelette sheeting. The kettle was placed in a large tray and boiling water poured through the funnel down to the spout of the kettle. Health and safety would have had a field day.
 
I made one when I was a teenager going into my 20's with an old electric kettle with the 3 round pins instead of the modern 3 blades. A car hosepipe (water) and an enamel funnel. The lid had a piece cut out of it and the filter was old flannelette sheeting. The kettle was placed in a large tray and boiling water poured through the funnel down to the spout of the kettle. Health and safety would have had a field day.


Necessity being the mother of invention. I do like a bit of good improvisation.
 
Hi, Does anyone have any plans for making a wax melter please
Cheers

No plans but here's the one I made - just 50mm Kingspan - corner joints reinforced with bamboo skewers, pva glued and then aluminium tape to seal it all up and the cut edges. Sheet of aluminium from an old caravan cut and bent to shape of a tray, sheet of greenhouse glass.

The aluminium 'tray' sits at an angle resting on a super frame - and empties the melted wax through a J cloth to filter it into an ice cream carton with some rainwater in it ..

Simples .. mine has lasted years and you can see in one photograph how effective it is by the melted thermometer !

https://www.flickr.com/photos/125609724@N03/albums/72157655336719145
 
No plans but here's the one I made - just 50mm Kingspan - corner joints reinforced with bamboo skewers, pva glued and then aluminium tape to seal it all up and the cut edges. Sheet of aluminium from an old caravan cut and bent to shape of a tray, sheet of greenhouse glass.

The aluminium 'tray' sits at an angle resting on a super frame - and empties the melted wax through a J cloth to filter it into an ice cream carton with some rainwater in it ..

Simples .. mine has lasted years and you can see in one photograph how effective it is by the melted thermometer !

https://www.flickr.com/photos/125609724@N03/albums/72157655336719145

Thank you, I suppose I could use wood instead of the insolation, that's the sort of solar melter I want to make.
Cheers
 
Thank you, I suppose I could use wood instead of the insolation, that's the sort of solar melter I want to make.
Cheers

The insulation helps to keep the heat in and the silver foil surface reflects the heat. If you want to make it look pretty clad the outside with plywood and varnish it.
 
I used a polystyrene fish box, which I clad in 1/4 inch ply. A stainless steel baking tray, in which I drilled some holes at one end, and a non stick bread tin to collect the wax. Been working for last couple of weeks and already in its sixth year.
 
Links as requested.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7lOIXqJ-Xg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDBiGgWpnI0&t=89s

I had this made for me some 25 years ago+. It's scaled up from a Mountain Grey model.

The filters are 200 micron mesh then a double layer of surgical lint. This means that brood comb can be filtered to a very high standard and capping wax is turned into candle wax in one pass.

I tried a solar unit in Aberdeenshire but the obvious flaw was and is lack of good sun. The advantage of course to the solar is the bleaching.

The advantage to me of my unit was and is non-reliance on sunshine.

I have taken clean cakes out of it weighing up to 10 pounds plus.

PH
 
I know it's sort of tangential to the OP, but for frames requiring cleaning I use this:

attachment.php


It will take a complete set of national frames in one load. The lid is in the lower right of the picture.

Steam comes in the black tube, and goes up through the frames. There is a coarse filter under the frames. Condensate and wax gathers in the base. The overflow is below the steam inlet - important point. You can either run till overflow happens, or stop, let the wax solidify and remove. It takes about 45 minutes per load. The frames are then ready for stripping and cleaning prior to re-use.

The only real change I would make would be to include a low level tap to drain the condensate.
 

Attachments

  • steamer.jpg
    steamer.jpg
    74.2 KB · Views: 142

Latest posts

Back
Top